Pocket Receptionist

Pocket Receptionist: UK-based virtual receptionists

Pocket Receptionist is a British company providing virtual reception and call answering services for businesses of different sizes and sectors. Its team of UK-based receptionists answers calls on behalf of the client business, following the script and tone that the client defines. The company presents itself as award-winning with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 based on 106 verified reviews on Trustpilot.

Telephone answering services

The service catalogue includes virtual receptionist, call answering service, overflow call handling and outsourced call centre. Among the functions the service can take on are answering customer questions, providing professional support, booking appointments, taking payments, handling all calls or covering only peak demand and out-of-hours, and sending notifications via app, email and SMS to keep the client informed in real time.

Industries served

The company adapts scripts, call handling and reporting to each sector from the first call. Among the areas it serves are trades and contractors (electricians, plumbers), legal services (law firms, accountants, consultants), medical and dental (practices, clinics, allied health), estate agents and property management, founders and solo operators, finance, hospitality, recruitment, tech and SaaS, wellness and beauty, and home services.

How it works and getting started

The onboarding process consists of three steps and most customers go live within 24-48 hours. The client forwards their calls — all of them or only those received when busy or out of hours — via a setup the company describes as taking two minutes. Receptionists answer with the business name and apply the agreed script to qualify, book or escalate the call. Appointments are added to the calendar and messages and lead details are sent instantly by SMS and email.

Integrations and platform

The service allows booking directly into calendars such as Google, Outlook and Calendly, as well as CRM systems such as Zoho, HubSpot and Salesforce. The company has a smartphone app and offers integrations, plus a blog and resources. Regarding data protection, it states that call data is encrypted in transit and at rest, with role-based access for the receptionist team, GDPR compliance by default and UK-only storage.

Plans and commercial terms

The company advertises a starting price of £75 per month with 30 calls included and a seven-day free trial. For SMEs, the price per call is typically between £85 and £240 per month, with month-to-month contracts and real-time spend visibility from the app. The company states that it is approximately 80% cheaper than hiring a part-time UK receptionist. Plans are monthly and allow upgrading or downgrading according to demand, and forwarding rules can be changed at any time.

Conversion data and ROI calculator

The website includes a return on investment calculator that estimates the cost of missed calls based on parameters such as sector, weekly call volume, percentage of unanswered calls, value of a typical job and conversion rate. The company cites as reference a 2% conversion rate for web forms, 25-40% of new callers who can become customers and a likelihood of phone calls converting up to twelve times higher than web leads, although it notes that results vary depending on the business, sector and quality of contacts.